Substrate holding device and substrate processing apparatus including the same

{
  "publication_number": "US11396082B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Substrate holding device and substrate processing apparatus including the same",
  "abstract": "There is provided a device and method for accurately positioning a substrate on a stage by a simple method using power of a movement mechanism provided for a movable stage. A substrate holding device for holding a substrate is provided. The substrate holding device includes a substrate stage for supporting the substrate, a stage drive mechanism for causing the substrate stage to move, positioning pin for positioning the substrate on the substrate stage, first urging members each urging the positioning pin, and a stopper member capable of applying a force against the urging member to the positioning pin. The positioning pin is configured to move together with the substrate stage by the stage drive mechanism. The positioning pin moving together with the substrate stage allows the substrate to be positioned on the substrate stage.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A substrate holding device for holding a substrate, comprising: a substrate stage for supporting the substrate; a stage drive mechanism for causing the substrate stage to rotate; a positioning pin for positioning the substrate on the substrate stage; first urging members each urging the positioning pin; and a stopper member capable of applying a force against the first urging member to the positioning pin, wherein the positioning pin is configured to rotate together with the substrate stage by the stage drive mechanism, and the positioning pin rotating together with the substrate stage allows the substrate to be positioned on the substrate stage.",
    "2. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, further comprising: a base member whose position is fixed, wherein the stopper member is fixed to the base member.",
    "3. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, further comprising: a positioning pin stage, wherein the positioning pin is fixed to the positioning pin stage, and the positioning pin stage is configured to be capable of engaging with and disengaging from the substrate stage.",
    "4. The substrate holding device according to claim 3, wherein the positioning pin stage is configured to be movable between (1) an engagement position at which the positioning pin stage engages with the substrate stage and (2) a disengagement position at which the positioning pin stage disengages from the substrate stage, the engagement position and the disengagement position being separate from each other in a direction perpendicular to a top surface of the substrate stage.",
    "5. The substrate holding device according to claim 4, wherein the positioning pin includes a substrate support portion, and the positioning pin is configured to be capable of supporting the substrate by the substrate support portion when the positioning pin stage is at the disengagement position.",
    "6. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, further comprising: a base member whose position is fixed, wherein the stopper member is fixed to the base member; a positioning pin stage, wherein the positioning pin is fixed to the positioning pin stage, and the positioning pin stage is configured to be capable of engaging with and disengaging from the substrate stage; the positioning pin stage is connected to the base member through a second urging member, and the second urging member is configured to urge the positioning pin stage in a direction opposite to a direction in which the positioning pin stage rotates together with the substrate stage.",
    "7. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein the positioning pin is urged by the first urging member in a central direction of the substrate.",
    "8. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein the number of the positioning pin is three or more.",
    "9. The substrate holding device according to claim 8, wherein the number of the positioning pin is six or more.",
    "10. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate stage has a circular top surface for supporting a circular substrate.",
    "11. The substrate holding device according to claim 10, wherein the stage drive mechanism has a motor for rotating the substrate stage, and the positioning pin is configured to position the substrate so that a center of the substrate coincides with a rotation center of the substrate stage.",
    "12. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: the substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is configured to perform processing on a substrate held by the substrate holding device.",
    "13. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12, comprising: a partial polisher partially polishing the substrate held by the substrate holding device.",
    "14. A substrate holding device for holding a substrate, comprising: a substrate stage for supporting the substrate; a stage drive mechanism for causing the substrate stage to move; a positioning pin for positioning the substrate on the substrate stage; first urging members each urging the positioning pin; and a stopper member capable of applying a force against the first urging member to the positioning pin, wherein the positioning pin is configured to move together with the substrate stage by the stage drive mechanism, and the positioning pin moving together with the substrate stage allows the substrate to be positioned on the substrate stage, the substrate holding device further comprises: a base member whose position is fixed, wherein the stopper member is fixed to the base member; a positioning pin stage, wherein the positioning pin is fixed to the positioning pin stage, and the positioning pin stage is configured to be capable of engaging with and disengaging from the substrate stage; the positioning pin stage is connected to the base member through a second urging member, and the second urging member is configured to urge the positioning pin stage in a direction opposite to a direction in which the positioning pin stage moves together with the substrate stage."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to a substrate holding device and a substrate processing apparatus including the substrate holding device.\n\nIn a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, when some kind of processing (chemical or mechanical processing, measurement, or the like) is performed on a pattern surface of a substrate Wf which is a process target object, the substrate Wf may be fixed onto a stage, a pedestal, or the like of a mechanism to process the substrate Wf. At this time, fixing any substrate Wf onto the same position on the stage without deviation makes possible similar processing on any substrate Wf and uniform quality in the final product. The precision requirement in each step in semiconductor device manufacturing by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus these days has already reached a level of several nanometers, and to perform accurate processing on accurate positions on the substrate Wf, it is important to accurately position the substrate Wf.\n\nThere is a method of performing positional alignment between the substrate Wf and the stage with a center of the stage as a reference so that a center of the substrate Wf coincides with the center of the stage. The term “center of the stage” refers to a center of a circle in a case where the stage has a circular shape, or even if the stage does not have a circular shape, a center of rotation of the stage or a center of a holding portion provided outside the stage may be regarded as a “center of the stage” which is a reference for the positional alignment.",
  "cpc": [
    "B24B 37/30",
    "B24B 37/107",
    "H10P 72/0428",
    "H10P 72/57",
    "H10P 72/70",
    "H10P 72/7612",
    "H10P 72/7624"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B24B 37/10",
    "B24B 37/30",
    "H10P 72/00",
    "H10P 72/50",
    "H10P 72/76"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Ebara Corp"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Hiroaki Nishida"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2018-11-12",
  "publication_date": "2022-07-26",
  "grant_date": "2022-07-26",
  "priority_date": "2017-11-13",
  "application_number": "US-201816186767-A",
  "family_id": "66431729",
  "cited_by_count": 3,
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}